My Dear
by Liebling
Summary: “It 's called: ‘every man gets one person in his life that he must wholeheartedly protect.’ My dear, I couldn't hurt you if I bloody tried.” Salazar


Authors Note: So I write this absolutely fab fic. And then I accidentally delete it. So naturally, I'm ticked. But you know what they say about us Germans--we don't give up easily.  
  
So here I am again. Giving it another go.  
  
Some fun Rowena/Salazar (both are seventeen in this one)  
  
And it's set before Hogwarts is 'open for business'  
  
Takes place in an empty corridor.  
  
;)  
  
Disclaimer: All belongs to Jo Rowling.  
  
Title: My Dear  
  
Other Notes: No 'ye olde' English-speak in here. So uh...get over it?  
  
*  
  
"Do good, Salazar," she said as she leaned against the jade wall.   
  
He rolled his eyes and said quite loudly - too loudly - "Rowena-"  
  
"No!" She said loudly. "No explanations."  
  
"My dear," he said, "all people have their place. Everyone here. You see, you're the brain, my dear. Helga's the mother figure. Godric's the-" he grimaced "-Godric's the uh hero. And I, I, my dear am the villain. And that's just the way the world works."  
  
She wiped away a crystal tear and angrily stomped her foot, "why can't you have another place?"  
  
"What other place would I be?"  
  
"...I don't know..."  
  
"Well, I can't very well be nothing now can I?"  
  
She nodded.  
  
"You think Godric a hero?" She spoke after minutes of pause.  
  
"He's as much of a hero as we're going to get here," was the simple response. "But that's not saying an awful lot."  
  
"He's quite nice, really."  
  
"Yeah and I'm sure he can fly better than anyone in England too."  
  
"You know he can."  
  
"I don't think so."  
  
"You wouldn't," she said stiffly. "Why must you be so awful?"  
  
"I'm not awful!" He said, mocking annoyance. "I must play my role, Rowena. Just as you must play yours."  
  
"And your role insists you are awful?"  
  
"Yes, yes, I suppose you could say that. Look, don't be ridiculous like this for me, my dear. I mustn't be able to teach you how the world works in one small session."  
  
"Tell me," she said, "tell me how it works."  
  
He chuckled briefly and swished the vodka around in his glass, then took a quick sip.  
  
"You see," he began in a superior tone, "the hero and the villain fight. And the hero goes off to celebrate, thinking he's won, you know? And he gets the pretty girl, and they smile and ride off in the sunset. The villain recognizes the hero's vulnerability and he kills him while he's sleeping."  
  
"That's nice," was the caustic reply. "But if you killed Godric-"  
  
"-I know, I know," he laughed, "you'd kill me."  
  
"I'd hit you with a book."  
  
"I've no manners, Rowena," he said sincerely, "I'd hit you back."  
  
"I know you would!" She exclaimed. "Sometimes I wonder if you're the one truthful person left in the world."  
  
"Probably am."  
  
"Yes, you probably are. Give me a sip," she demanded as he handed over the glass.  
  
"Are you...can you...are you good with..."  
  
"I can handle my vodka if that's what you mean," she choked back laughter. "You taught me, 'member? We were like, what? Fifteen, tops."  
  
"Ha! You spat it right out, first time."  
  
"Course I did," she said, "it tasted bloody awful."  
  
"You're drinking it now," he said pointedly.  
  
"So are you."  
  
"I think it tastes good."  
  
"I don't."  
  
He rolled his eyes and sat down upon the pavement, "I'll never understand you, Rowena. For the rest of my years...ever"  
  
"That's what makes me special," she grinned. "You'll think that you understand me, but you won't."  
  
"Speaking of ladies, where's Helga?"  
  
"Probably somewhere with lover-boy."  
  
"Godric?" He said.  
  
"No, you," she said playfully. "Yes Godric."  
  
"She's just sixteen and already her brain's turned to mush, has it? If you ask me-"  
  
"-we didn't ask you."  
  
"Well, let's just say you did I think she's far too young for him."  
  
"You've taken a liking to her, haven't you?" Rowena joked as she twisted a strand of ebony hair 'round her finger.  
  
"You know good and well you're the only one I've ever taken a liking to." He re-did the basilisk clasp on his velvet cloak.  
  
She blushed dark rouge and giggled. "You wouldn't like her much anyway," she said. "The girl's got less spine than jelly."  
  
"You're a smart little lady, you know that?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"But you don't know much about life, you know."  
  
"I know," she laughed, "I wasn't thrown out of the 'bloody Manor' at twelve and forced to live alone. I wasn't a crackpot at the age of fifteen."  
  
"Thank you Rowena for that lovely memory" he said caustically.  
  
"You're most welcome, Salazar."  
  
"And I am not a drunkard!"  
  
"You are too."  
  
"Four glasses of vodka or gin at dinner is like...nothing."  
  
"Drunkard!"  
  
"No!"  
  
"Yes!"  
  
They fell back on the floor in fits of laughter. His was hearty and quick, hers was loud and giggly.  
  
"What will you do when we get older?" She asked, after the laughter subsided.  
  
"...I don't know, I guess I'll, get older."  
  
"That's not an answer. Skating around the question, aren't we?"  
  
"I don't skate or skip around anything, my dear."  
  
"Answer the question then."  
  
"I'll do what suits me," he said simply.   
  
"What suits you?"  
  
"...I don't know."  
  
"You do too know!" She insisted.  
  
"Fine. I'll go off at nineteen and I'll leave this bloody school, and I'll go off and kill people just to get my jollies. I'll take over the world. And I'll enjoy it too."  
  
It wasn't a sincere remark but Rowena picked up on how he didn't seem very hesitant. "You'd probably kill me too, if I got in your way wouldn't you?"  
  
"I could never...I would never...hurt you..."  
  
"Yes you could," she said. "I don't mean to question your admiration for me, Salazar. It is unquestionable. But you're a man of intense emotions, and you would do much to make your space in life. And you are telling me that if I came in between you and say, power or money you would simply go back home?"  
  
"I have no home," he said dryly. "Evil people have their limits too, Rowena."  
  
"What sort?"  
  
"It's called: 'every man gets one person in his life that he must wholeheartedly protect.' My dear, I couldn't hurt you if I bloody tried."  
  
"Oh okay," she said, as though that explained everything. "I wonder about you though."  
  
"You shouldn't," he said. "I could easily kill Godric, in cold blood, while he was sleeping. Helga too, probably. I could maybe even kill myself, if things got really tough. But you...no, not now, not ever, ever...Rowena..."  
  
"Don't say that!" She said tearfully. "Don't make me think that you could actually adore me."  
  
"People ought to think things that are true," he said coldly as he toyed with an ancient looking chess piece--the pawn.  
  
"Is it though?"  
  
"Rowena, my dear, we've already been over this. Hold it together, okay?"  
  
"I know, I know. I'm sensible, and aloof..."  
  
"...and you're intelligent, don't forget intelligent."  
  
"That too."  
  
"And now you're acting like a crazy hippogriff."  
  
"Thank you Salazar for that well needed reality check."  
  
"You're much welcome, Rowena."  
  
She smiled slightly as he brushed away a crystal tear that ran down her ruby cheek.   
  
"I wonder where Godric is," he said.  
  
"Why do you care?"  
  
"If one is plotting another's demise it would be nice to know the location."  
  
"That was lovely," she clapped, "I bet he's on the Pitch."  
  
"Showing off for Helga, right?"  
  
"Helga's impressionable...if you told her you loved her I do believe that she'd fall for it."  
  
"I'd never tell her I loved her," he said, offended.  
  
"I would certainly hope not. She's just sixteen...ain't got no clue what love is."  
  
"We're just seventeen."  
  
"Don't be logical," she said, "that's my place."  
  
"Evil people are always logical," he said. "They beat the emotional people in a heartbeat."  
  
"Another life lesson eh?"  
  
"Always."  
  
"You're awfully intriguing, you know that."  
  
"Yes," he said, holding back laughter. "People like me often are."  
  
"What do you mean people like you?"  
  
"Special people," he chuckled.  
  
"Yeah right," was the caustic response.  
  
"Well, my dear, I must be off. To go deflate Godric's ego, of course, and to go save Helga from his 'evil' clutches. That girl sure is thick."  
  
"You'll save her too?"  
  
"She needs it far more than you do," he reasoned.  
  
"Yes, I suppose she does."  
  
"-and then I have some work to do."  
  
"Such as-"  
  
"-research."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Later, my dear."  
  
She pecked him quickly on the lips and he touched her nose with a long pale finger. "I adore you," he said with a quick wink.  
  
And he was off.  
  
*  
  
La Fin 


End file.
